Thursday, October 4, 2012

I always feel a little guilty when I post one of these
technique videos, which is kind of strange since I get just as many “wishes”
for this type of demo, as I do for straight recipes. People seem to like
them, and I’ll get lots of comments asking for more of the same, but there’s
just something about not being able to take a bite out of the final product
that leaves me slightly unsatisfied.

Of course, I could have eaten some more cheese balls at the
end, but you know what I’m saying. Anyway, lack of proper money shot
notwithstanding, I hope this “cheesy” trick helps you master this very basic
and desirable kitchen skill.

By the way, this is about much more than just looking cool.
Depending on the recipe, flipping the food around without having to use a spoon
or spatula can be a big advantage. It’s faster, more effective, and yes, it looks
super cool too. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Great tutorial! I've always wanted to learn this technique, but I never thought to practice when I wasn't actually cooking something. Question: Do you think this would work as well with malted milk balls? Mmmm...I love Whoppers.

I wondered the other day, when I was watching one of your videos while cooking, how you taught your class to do this. Now I know...however, I have an electric stove and question if this would scratch it??? Fixin to get a new cooktop so maybe I should practice now if it does scratch!!! TKS

This is a great video, thanks Chef John. I once asked a chef on the hotel omelette line how to do it and she learned with a cold fired egg which can also be tossed around without making a mess. I like the idea of the cheese balls since you probably have to me a little more precise to keep them all in the pan.

I want everyone to be clear this technique is for tossing ingredients in a pan when sauteing, not necessarily for flipping eggs and pancakes. The move is very similar, but you do need some upward flip for those applications.

Aww don't feel unsatisfied Chef John I love these tips; they are useful and interesting. I used to always use a paring knife to slice everything because I was terrified of a chef's knife and it felt wrong in my hand, but then I watched your "Can't Boil Water" episode and now I use my chef's knife everyday. Added perk, it takes me a lot less time to cut everything up.

You are the reason I started cooking. I loved to bake, but cooking scared me (I have botched numerous recipes and almost burned the kitchen down [my sister left me to watch tortillas cooking when I was too short to see the top of the stove]). Then, I started watching your videos and you made cooking sound fun and were reassuring that recipe fails happen (even to experienced chefs), but that they are perfectly natural and okay. Now, I am confident in my cooking abilities and am improving daily.

By the way one thing I love (and that helped me build confidence in the kitchen) is that you show what the food looks like throughout the cooking process and what pitfalls lie ahead. Like with the caramel, the first several minutes look like you did something horrible wrong (it remains white forever, then it turns lumpy, then it goes from light to burnt in seconds, topped off with the frothing monstrosity once you add the butter and cream), but you show us all of that. So thank you a million times over.

Dear Chef John, I recall seeing a French cook on the Riviera doing this trick with a very deep pot (maybe 5 or 6 inches high sides that were straight up, not slanted) and he was getting the content of the pot high up in the air, actually well over a foot high above the top of the pot. I found this impressive but never dared to try it.Do you think this cook was using your technique or is there more to it?